A place to celebrate the magnificence of this great band

Stabbing Westward

About Us

This is a fan page for the American industrial rock band Stabbing Westward.

The band Stabbing Westward was formed...

The band was formed by Christopher Hall (lead vocals, guitar player, keyboardist, drum machine programmer) and Walter Flakus (keyboardist, programmer, backup singer) in 1985 in the city of Macomb, Illinois. The band has, so far, released four studio albums. The first was Ungod in 1994, followed by Wither Blister Burn & Peel in 1996, then Darkest Days in 1998, and finally Stabbing Westward in 2001. On the ninth of February 2002, the band announced that they were going on hiatus. They remained on hiatus until 2016 when Stabbing Westward officially reunited in celebration of the band's 30th anniversary and now they continue to perform live shows as a band once again. In 2003 they released two different compilation albums as well.

The band Stabbing Westward was formed while Christopher Hall and Walter Flakus were in college together at Western Illinois University. The pair came up with the name when they were working at WIUS-FM, their college radio station. According to them, the name comes from a speech from the 1950s about the nation's fears that Communism was "stabbing westward."

The History

— How it all began

In 1985, the band’s original line-up moved to Chicago. This line-up of Stabbing Westward recorded Iwo Jesus, the band’s extended play tape which four songs and was released in 1991.

Then, in 1993, Stabbing Westward traveled to Eden Studios in London, England to record with producer John Fryer. They ended up recording their debut album with a major label (Columbia Records), Ungod. Ungod was released on the 15th of February in 1994. The album got Stabbing Westward an opening slot on Depeche Mode’s “Exotic Tour” in the summer of 1994. They also opened in North American in the fall of 1994 for Killing Joke. This all helped boost the band’s popularity and get their music out to the world.

Wither Blister Burn & Peel became a huge success in 1996. It got the band their very first certified gold album. This accomplishment was helped by their popular singles “What Do I Have to Do?” and “Shame”. They got the band on MTV, MuchMusic, and the radio on a heavy rotation. Following the album, the band toured with other groups including Sponge.

— What's Next

Eventually, Stabbing Westward went to Los Angeles, California, and began to work on their 1998 album, called Darkest Days. The album was envisioned by the band as a story told in four acts. “Save Yourself” the first single off the album had some success. After the album, Stabbing Westward went on to continue to tour with groups such as Placebo, Monster Magnet, The Cult, and Depeche Mode. They would also go on to play in some summer festivals.

The band was dropped by Columbia Record the day before they were set to fly out to record the follow-up to their next album.

Stabbing Westward ended up signing with Koch Records, but their new manager wanted them to record an album that would have a heavy pop influence. Hall, Flakus, and the other members of the band at this time were against that. Mark Eliopulos, a guitarist in the band at the time, ended up getting fired by the manager who then brought in a new musician to rerecord guitar parts to give the album the pop vibe he wanted after the demo for the album was seen as too dark.

Soon after their self-titled album came out, the group disbanded.

In 2016, however, the band reunited for a charity concert and has continued to play reunion shows since. Also, in May of 2020, the band signed with a new label to release a new album!